The history of seances, essays on seance performance, 6 close-up effects with spirit themes, Eugene's own seance Hauntings, interviews with Tony Andruzzi and Max Maven, a reprint of the complete Sylvestre catalog of spirit paraphernalia from 1901, plus an annotated bibliography.

Table of Contents

Part One: Setting the Stage
First Words
Point of Departure
Spirits
Spirit Theater
Seances for Fun and Profit

Part Two: Ghostly Visitors in the Nineteenth Century
Mesmer, Imagination and Suggestion
The Summer-Land
"One of the Great Points of Psychic Evolution"
Manifestations from Beyond the Grave
A Shooting Star
Master Mediums

Part Three: Performance
Character and Claims
The Man of Mystery: A Conversation with Tony Andruzzi
Building a Better Performance
A Central Principle
Seance Presenation: A Conversation with Max Maven
The Dark Room
Hauntings: A Conversation with Eugene Burger
Spirit Theater for the Close-Up Entertainer

Part Four: Wanderings in the Spirit Field: An Annotated Bibliography
History
Investigation
Manifestations
Performance
Last Words